medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> I would add that the medieval devotion to the archangels is
visible in the
> names of the Franciscan missions in the southwestern United
States: San
> Gabriel and San Rafael are in California, and San Miguel
(along with San
> Jose) is the patron of the largest mission in San Antonio,
Texas.
"Devotion" somewhat loosely, or not at all as a matter of
specific devotion, for the Spanish bestowed the names of many
saints on places in California and elsewhere simply because they
came upon those places on the feast days of those saints.
Here is Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, designated by Philip
II as official chronicler of Castile and the Indies (Historia
general..., 1601-15): "It was the custom of those who
discovered new lands to give their own names to the rivers,
capes, and other places; or else the name of the saint on whose
day they made the discovery; or else, other names, as they
wished." This is quoted by George R. Stewart in his Names on
the Land (1945 etc.) Stewart has many stories about the
frequent difficulty of names to stick.
For example, Cabrillo, sailing north from Mexico in 1542, came
upon a large enclosed bay and named it for St. Michael the
Archangel. But that name fell out of use (as hundreds of other
saint placenames did) and the bay became known as San Diego.
A couple of stories will illustrate the chanciness of such
placenaming.
The story of the naming of San Francisco Bay (the first feature
there to be named for St. Francis) is long and confusing as
various bays on the northern coast were found, named, and mapped
at different times. The original "San Francisco Bay" was named
by Viscaino in 1595, but that turned out to be the indentation
now called Drake's Bay. In the end the Franciscan missionaries
directed by Junipero Serra waited until the Portola expedition
in 1769 came to a suitably grand place--the great bay we
know--before bestowing the name San Francisco, though it was not
on St. Francis' feast day.
The other San Francisco placenames came later. The Franciscan
mission has the formal name Mision San Francisco de Asis,
applied at its founding during Moraga's expedition in 1776.
However, it's much better known as Mission Dolores, for the
actual mission site, on a now-vanished small lake and stream,
was named after the saint of the day, Arroyo de Nuestra Seņora
de los Dolores (Lake of Our Lady of Sorrows). The great city to
be was originally called Yerba Buena, and renamed San Francisco
in 1847, just before gold was discovered.
Don't Call it Frisco,
Al Magary
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|